


Night Shift

by SpaceCows



Category: SpongeBob SquarePants (Cartoon)
Genre: Anger, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, M/M, Rivalry, The Krusty Krab, Trapped
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2020-09-09 09:02:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20290507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceCows/pseuds/SpaceCows
Summary: "ugh, I still don't know why I agreed to this horrendous game." mumbled the greenish cephalopod as he begrudgingly threw the dice. Both die rolled landing on a three, meaning that he got to move forward six spaces into....jail again. He sighed putting his aching tentacles over his eyes, trying to calm down from his misfortune. Seeing as how the octopus didn't seem to be making any sort of move, his bouncy co-worker picked up his piece and plopped it right into the jail, leaving the older figure grumbling nonsense, as he knew of the events that would take place anyway."Don't worry squidward, I'm sure this rodeo will be over soon enough." Sandy said as she grabbed the dice and threw them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Fun board game on the nightshift with friends, spongebob's game suddenly gets interrupted by weird rumbling, causing all sea creatures to panic slightly, Will spongebob and friends be ok? who is behind this diabolical plan? So many questions! So little time...

_The bubbles fade revealing the moonlight shining through the ocean, we zoom into the Krusty Krab, one of the finest eating establishments in all of Bikini Bottom. As we enter we see four familiar silhouettes, upon closer inspection we see SpongeBob and his friends. The camera pans toward Squidward who seems to be having a fit, as he is shown to be pointing and yelling, all while Eugene is just trying to finish counting up his money for the night, getting more and more aggravated by the second. The camera zoom across the screen to show the Chum Bucket, where there's the tiny mastermind of all schemes to steal the Krabby patty, secret formula. He stands there with a pair of binoculars next to his computer wife, Karen. He smiles deviously and proceeds back into his restaurant chuckling as he does the doors open and shut in the viewers face, we then get a bubble transition back over to the Krusty krab, where we finally hear Squidward speak. _

_"_ugh, I still don't know why I agreed to this horrendous game." mumbled the greenish cephalopod as he begrudgingly threw the dice. Both dies rolled landing on a three, meaning that he got to move forward six spaces into..._.jail_ **again**. He sighed putting his aching tentacles over his eyes, trying to calm down from his misfortune. Seeing as how the octopus didn't seem to be making any sort of move, his bouncy co-worker picked up his piece and plopped it right into the jail, leaving the older figure grumbling nonsense, as he knew of the events that would take place anyway.

"Don't worry Squidward, I'm sure this rodeo will be over soon enough," Sandy said as she grabbed the dice and threw them.

Suddenly, the whole restaurant shook, knocking pieces off of the table and ruining the game. Everyone paused and didn't move, waiting in anticipation. Squidward, on the other hand, got up from his seat and shuffled over to where his piece had gone, gently picking it up along with the other figurines. As Squidward started to head back, the same rumbling and shaking occurred leaving Squidward defenseless to his useless reflexes. Spongebob quickly hopped out of his seat and slid over next to Squidward, helping the tired cashier up.  
He had noticed that there had been a loud crashing coming from his boss's office.

"Oh shit," mumbled Spongebob

Once the two got up again, they turned only to see their boss burst through his office door and walk over towards them.

"What in barnacles is going on here?!" he demanded looking between his two employees. Spongebob only shrugged looking over at Squidward. Squidward, of course, took the hint and sighed,

"Mr. Krabs, all we were doing was playing Patrick's dumb game, and then the Krusty Krab decided to have a seaquake," Squidward stated in his usual matter of factly tone.

Just as he finished, the rumbling and shaking returned only much more powerful this time. Mr. Krabs pushed his two employees to the side sniffing the air and squinting his eyes.

"Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" Patrick replied, looking for the scent

"A smell, a smelly smell, that smells smelly.." he said as he continued stepping forward

"Like you?" Squidward retorted, laughing.

"This is no time for jokes Mr. Squidward!" 

The crab paused, walked over to the entrance and instantaneously lost all of his colors. His face was pressed to the glass leaving Spongebob in the dark as to what was going on.

"Sir? Are you ok?"

"**P****lankton.**" 

At the sound of his name, everyone froze, sandy took a defensive stance, while Patrick went to hide in Squidward's boat. Spongebob however, pulled out his trusty spatula and waved it around like a sword. Squidward went over to a nearby table and sat down on the ledge and pulled out a magazine, trying to avoid the conflict.

Mr. Krabs immediately tried to put the Krusty Krab in defense mode, only to realize it had been deactivated, before he could yell out orders though..something crashed through the windows of the Krusty Krab, and blew up. Whatever bombs they were, they kept coming, faster, too fast for anyone to take cover. most of them took out sections of the floor, leaving people trapped together. Sandy and Patrick were first to drop into one of the many large holes, SpongeBob trying to reach out and grab them, only for Squidward to pull him back, just as a part of the roof fell and almost crushed him. Spongebob frantically tried to escape Squidward's grasp to try and save Mr. Krabs, who then proceeded to fall, finally, He and Squidward had whatever they were standing on collapsed underneath them.

and with that, all five had past out, due to the collision with the ground. Plankton had been watching the whole thing through the chum bucket security and laughed walking over to Karen and giving her a smooch as he scurried over to the Krusty Krab as fast as his tiny legs could take him.


	2. Collisions and prisons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darkness was everywhere, the only light coming from the opening of the far away entrance, slowly the octopus got up, shifting uncomfortably, as he tried to adjust his eyes. He glanced around him panicking only to see during his hysteria, that sponge passed out cold. He scooted over to him, still in pain from the fall and placed his head on spongebob’s chest listening for a heartbeat.
> 
> 1....2.....3......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooof

_Darkness was everywhere, the only light coming from the opening of the faraway entrance, slowly the octopus got up, shifting uncomfortably, as he tried to adjust his eyes. He glanced around him panicking only to see during his hysteria, that sponge passed out cold. He scooted over to him, still in pain from the fall and placed his head on Spongebob's chest listening for a heartbeat. 1...2....3..._

** _bu-bump_ **

_”still there,” he thought to himself, he sighed and turned his attention to his physical condition. Seeing as how they were trapped, Squidward wanted to make sure that at the very least if the did make it out he would be able to walk._

_he grimaced as he picked up one of his limp tentacles and watched in dismay as it flopped the wrong way and twisted. He let out a gasp and started coughing, suddenly feeling other pains that weren’t there before all at once. The adrenaline was able to block out most of this, but due to him returning to his mostly normal state, he now felt **everything**._

_oh, how his minimum wage was never going to cover any of this._

_///////////////////_

_The change in temperature startled sandy as she got up, she went to put a hand to her head and touched her head..no glass...no oxygen. Damn if only she still had that pickle jar. She desperately started searching for any means of air, frantically digging through the rubble with the little strength she had left..she felt her body starting to give out to these issues and finally knew the only oxygen should could manage to get on such a short amount of time would be from Patrick, even though he was a sea critter, it was her last hope of being able to survive._

_She opened his mouth and immediately pressed her own against it, trying as she might suck out any air into her system. It was gross, it most definitely was embarrassing, but it wasn’t as bad as dying just because of a stupid one-celled organism that she could’ve easily taken down within five seconds. She was lucky to have been alive when she woke up, it was a miracle actually because scientifically no land mammal could ever achieve such ability without training. She suddenly felt movement and saw that Patrick was, in fact, awake and was shell shocked by what she was doing, she took in one more breath and got off, smiling sheepishly. Patrick then proceeded to get up as well and rubbed at his forehead._

“Sandy? What happened?”

sandy stood there for a few seconds glaring at Patrick pointing out the obvious issue of her oxygen, to which Patrick then had an idea as he pulled out some bubble juice and made her an air bubble, to which she eagerly grabbed and started breathing again.

////////////

Eugene shuffled a bit and opened his eyes, one of them seeing red and in immense pain, he started coughing and sat up, looking with his one good eye at the hole above him where he could just so happen to make out plankton’s figure.

”hello Eugene.”

he said in a mocking tone as he smirked

”Sheldon?! Have you gone mad? All this for me secret formula? Don’t you have yer morals?”

”certainly! Do you think I purposely made bombs that would accidentally not kill you? Eugene, I still can’t bring myself to be rid of you even after all these years..but I’ll Do what it takes to get your formula and rule bikini bottom.”

”....”

”Just be glad I spared your life Krabs, because if this plan doesn’t succeed..there won’t be a next time.”

the copepod stated bitterly as he walked away.

“oh, plank..” 

Whispered the crab feeling guilt build up.

//////

“plankton, why didn’t you just kill him? You say you have morals, but Mr. Krabs is sure to get in the way again.”

”oh Karen my computer wife, you’ll never understand the complexity of me and Eugene’s relationship.”

“Besides, I warned him.” Plankton proudly proclaimed

even as his wife continued rambling on, plankton felt a tugging at his tiny heart, shaking those thoughts away, he continued towards the safe. He’d come too far now, not even Krabs would dare get in his way. 

Not again.


	3. Different paths, twisting routes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He hated this entire affair of this simple rivalry, god how he wanted it all to just go away, years and years of pent up resentment...god he missed his best friend, what he wouldn’t do to start all over again...

Deep in his thoughts, Eugene sat there, miserable, injured, and alone. The only thoughts he could have right now, weren’t even about escaping or money. He had hated this entire affair of this god awful, simple rivalry, oh how he wanted it all to just go away, years and years of pent up resentment...god he missed his best friend, what he wouldn’t do to start all over again... maybe treat him better..what had happened? Tiny drips came from the broken pipes above, making Mr. Krabs feel even more hopeless than before. The darkness, the cold, oh barnacles the pain. He wanted to give up years ago, but deep down he knew that wasn’t an option anymore, not after this long. So he got up and yeah it hurt, but the navy had toughened this old crab up, and he wasn’t about to bail out on everything he had built. The only thing that gave him purpose, giving up was his mistake last time, now was a time for action!

///////////////

** Squish, pop, squish, pop**

That's all it took for the little sponge to awake. The constant popping had got into his head, echoing. When he looked to see where it was coming from, he saw Squidward pacing, his tentacles squishing against the ground, while his suction cups stuck to the ground and popped off. He sighed a breath of relief and tried to stand up, only fall, with a gasp of pain. He noticed now that the pacing cephalopod had stopped and come over.

Spongebob was groaning in pain, taking in deep breaths, he was calm...That is..until he saw

_the blood_

He watched as the dark red substance oozed out from his knees, splitting off into different directions almost like a river. Mesmerizing was what he’d call it. Spongebob felt himself hyperventilating, to which the only reply from the grumpy cashier was covering his mouth with his wounded tentacle and a reassuring glance. He watched as Squidward ripped off part of his shirt, as did his best to clean and bandage up his legs. 

Finally, after the task was completed, the sponge smiled gratefully at his companion. Both individuals got up and started trying to find a way out.

At least, they hoped they would.

/////////////////

"Thank you pat, I don't know how long I could've survived for if you hadn't awoken sooner." She blushed a bit remembering what she had done seconds before her now water-free bubble.

"It's no problem sandy, But why was your mouth on mine?"

"o-oxygen Patrick, oxygen." she sighed, flustered completely as she looked around.

"We should probably start looking for a way out of here." sandy mumbled

"I just hope the others are ok.." Patrick replied, glancing down at his own damaged body.

//////////////////

Plankton walked fairly easily around most of the rubble and finally reached the infamous safe of the Krabby patty secret formula. Once he stopped in front of it, he looked to Karen for help, his computer wife made her way over and placed the detonator on the safe. As both backed away, plankton smiled finally feeling victorious for once in his oh so miserable existence. <strike>He hadn't been this happy since he first met Eugene! </strike>It was all going so well, he'd finally show everyone in this stupid town that Sheldon J. plankton was way more than just a small copepod.

As the explosion went off, debris went all over, puffs of smoke cleared and shown plankton his success, He eagerly approached the now open safe. Finally after years and years of trying he did it. He stepped towards the small vial which had been just out of his reach for the past decades, teasing and haunting him. Well no more, would it mock him. As he pushed it over, he gripped the cork pulled it off and grabbed the formula. He always dreamed of this day, he smiled for a bit. However, as soon as it came it was gone.

"Sheldon? what are you doing? the formula is right there in your very hands! You've been suffering for years just to get your grubby little mitts on it, ever since krabs opened up the Krusty Krab, why aren't you opening it?"

His wife insisted as she urged him to do what he wanted from the very start.

"I c-c-can't...."

"can't? can't what mister? you can't just give up now! you sacrificed several years of our marriage for this here formula, you can't be serious!"

plankton paused as he looked up his computer wife's cold monitor, why did he need to listen to her anyway? He was the one who created her hardware in the first place, he didn't have to take orders from the likes of a piece of scrap metal. plankton grabbed the formula and held it close, as he descended to the floor, he landed with a soft thud and walked towards Karen, with a neutral expression, hoping with all his might that he didn't show any intent of what he was about to do.

"You're right Karen...but"

he paused as he proceeded towards her plug.

"Not about everything."

he pulled the wire out from her and watched with a small frown as she shut down.

He didn't know why, but for some reason..he just couldn't take over bikini bottom yet.

/////////////////////////

but maybe a certain crustacean did.


	4. lost and found

"We need to get moving now Spongebob, Mr.Krabs and the others are probably escaping right now."

The octopus grabbed the sponge and put him on his back, knowing full well one of them needed to save their energy for later if they happened to encounter Plankton. Spongebob let out a sigh and reluctantly agreed. As they started, Spongebob glanced around, Pipes and broken debris surrounding them, giving them few options to find a way out. The only light source mocking them as he searched and searched. Squidward was growing tired as the hours went by, and suddenly a rope was thrown down. Both curiously glanced upward to see their boss still alive and safe enough. They smiled in relief, Spongebob giving an excited smile, while Squidward's was just limited to: "Glad to see you alive"

"Come on up boys!"

"But Mr. Krabs! How did you escape?!" Spongebob asked, seemingly hesitant and unsure.

Mr. Krabs sighed and tried to make it quick.

"Well, I knew I couldn't surrender to plankton, so I had managed to devise a plan, despite me being alone...there was just enough junk to save me from being trapped."

"Fair enough, you head up first Spongebob."

Spongebob glanced at his companion and felt a sense of unease, still, he followed Squidward's order and climbed up. Now of course since his boss and co-worker were up there, Squidward had to manage a way to pull himself up, yet he knew very well that his leg could be a problem. He sighed letting out a shaky breath and started his tedious work. Once he was above, he gripped onto Spongebob and placed him on his back again. Spongebob flushed and glanced down at Squidward's leg. He watched as Squidward stepped toward Mr. Krabs and limped slightly.

"Squiddy, are you sure you can continue carrying me?" He questioned, feeling guilty.

"I don't want you to carry me if I can walk perfectly fine on my own. Especially, with that limp, you've got there." He gestured towards the cephalopod's lower half

Squidward faced Spongebob with a look of dedication in his eyes. He gave him a reassuring smile and a light squeeze on Spongebob's leg.

"I'll be ok you moron, promise." He said, and despite his words, the insult seemed to be more of a playful tease to lighten the mood.

"Ok, if you're ok with it, then I am too." 

//////////////////////

"Spongebob! Where are you?"

Patrick and Sandy cried out into the empty caverns. They had been searching for any sign of their friend for hours, growing more hopeless as the further they went.

Eventually, Patrick sat down in defeat as Sandy joined him, she placed a hand on Patrick's back, smiling at him. He gave her a sad smile back and even though he was smiling, Sandy could see the tears floating up from his eyes, turning into bubbles. She felt herself tear up too, but refused to acknowledge it.

"Y'know Pat, If we don't make it out alive...I want you to know that you're a good friend." She then proceeded to pull him in for a hug.

He hugged back instantly, Surprising Sandy though she admits it wasn't an unpleasant surprise.

///////////////////////

Plankton had silently watched everything that went down before him. He sighed as he pondered, and felt his heart continue being...well strange. He hid as the trio walked past heading to inspect other craters calling out to sandy and that pink dolt. Still, despite him knowing fully well that he was responsible for this, he couldn't help but blame their fight. It was so long ago. Perhaps too long... 


End file.
